Sunaina wants a retest

New Delhi: A day after the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWF) announced that Sunaina returned a positive dope test and stands banned for two years, the woman lifter requested for testing her ‘B’ sample, a top IWF official said on Friday.

The 24-year-old, who tested positive in the Asian Championships held in Almaty, Kazakhstan last month, was also stripped of the two bronze medals she won there in the 58-kg category by the IWF.

“Sunaina, who was called to our Delhi office, has requested for the ‘B’ sample test,” IWF secretary Balbir Singh Bhatia said. Expressing surprise at the positive result of Sunaina’s ‘A’ sample Bhatia said the lifter, a contender to make the Indian team for Athens Olympics, would not resort to dope.

“Sunaina knew that she was a strong contender for the Olympics team and would not resort to any such thing,” Bhatia said.

Despite Sunaina pressing for her ‘B’ sample test Bhatia said the IWF “has still given her two-three days to think about whether she really wanted to go for the second test”.

Meanwhile, chief coach Pal Singh Sandhu just could not believe the news that his ward tested positive. Expressing ‘disbelief’ over the development, Sandhu said that “we had conducted random tests 10-12 days ahead of the competition and they were negative.”

“There could even be some problem with the laboratory where Sunaina’s sample was tested. I suggest her to go for ‘B’ sample test”.

Sunaina was also a bronze medallist at the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Last year, Commonwealth Games 75kg gold medallist Shailaja Pujari was banned for two years by the Indian federation after she tested positive at a domestic meeting.

She was among 34 lifters, 23 of them juniors, who were caught for doping in three national meets which came soon after seven lifters tested positive during the 2002 National Games.